Starting in the fall 2026 semester, the University of Wisconsin’s Filipino language program will no longer be offered, according to Filipinx American Student Organization Communications Chair Ethan Ham. 

“A lot of people in FASO have been deeply impacted by the fact that it’s going away because it’s been such a good opportunity for them to have formal education about our culture,” Ham said.

The program will not be offered at UW next year, but there may be online classes hosted by the University of Michigan, Ham said. 

The program’s elimination follows federal funding cuts by the Trump administration and the dismantling of the U.S. Department of Education’s International and Foreign Language Education program that administers Title VI funding.

Title VI funding was established as part of the Higher Education Act and is used to support foreign language programs. 

Though many of UW’s Southeast Asian language programs are small and susceptible to termination, the Filipino program does have the largest enrollment size, Ham said. 

To help salvage the program, FASO is looking for financial support outside of Department of Education funding such as through donors and fundraising efforts, Ham said.

FASO has contacted other Filipino organizations in Wisconsin such as the Philippine-American Association of Madison & Neighboring Areas as well as organizations in Milwaukee, Ham said. 

Many students in FASO have had experience in the Filipino language program and are deeply impacted by its termination, Ham said. 

Tagalog class was one of the only formal education programs about Filipino language available to students, whereas FASO’s education of Filipino language and culture is very informal, Ham said.

“FASO was born out of the Filipino language program,” Ham said. “It started as Tagalog on the Terrace, which was like language tables for the Filipino program. And that was just how the group initially started. And then it spawned into today which has over 100 members.”

According to a Dec. 14 statement, FASO is currently reaching out to various Filipino networks to ask for financial support. The public can help by emailing [email protected] or co-President Charlie Woller at [email protected] or by following FASO on Instagram @fasomadison. 

“If you can, please talk about this issue, and if you already have, thank you from the bottom of our hearts,” FASO said in the statement. “Continue to use your voice. As your FASO executive board, we intend to fight and advocate for you, for us.”

Editor’s note: This article has been updated to remove Ham’s statement that the Vietnamese language program is at risk of being cut after he updated The Badger Herald that FASO is currently unsure of where specific programs stand.